So, This Is A Step Too Far, Eh..?

School leaders have accused Labour of “window dressing” after Keir Starmer pledged to introduce...

...supervised toothbrushing for young children in England’s primary schools.

While the policy has long been supported by the dentistry profession as a way of curbing decay, headteachers said it was not appropriate for their staff to check whether pupils had cleaned their teeth.

It's not appropriate to check what parents are sending in for a packed lunch either, but that didn't stop them, did it?

Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: “We have serious reservations about how such a policy could even work. It is not the role of teachers to be making sure children brush their teeth each day.

“Schools already play a role in teaching children about the importance of looking after their teeth through the curriculum, but there has to be a limit in terms of what we can expect them to do.

“We should demand more than window dressing from all of our politicians.”

Oh, be quiet! You've already meddled in things that were the purview of parents, you can hardly claim it's not your role now... 

The British Dental Association, which represents the profession, said it was encouraged by Labour’s proposal, given ministerial inaction over introducing a similar scheme.

So, have the hapless Labour brains trust decided there's more votes to come from dentists than from  teachers? Because maybe they shouldn't have let Diane Abbott do the maths...  

Are All Labour Councillors Thick As Mince..?

...or is it just this one? 

She was immediately - and beautifully - taken to task by Twitter users. But the breathtaking idiocy of tweeting something like this about people caught in the act astonishes me. 

The immediate assumption that 'racism' drove this, as it it would ever be racist to object to this sort of disregard for our surroundings, as if people wouldn't somehow be as angry if the people doing it were a different race. 

The Council Has Spoken, Peasants!

Bradford's Council has prohibited a new ITV drama about Peter Sutcliffe's murders, called The Long Shadow, from filming throughout parts of the city including streets and parks.

To shield the surviving victims and their relatives from further pain, I suppose? 

Emails reveal there had been plans to film the series in another part of the country, but victims' families 'thought it needed to be told in West Yorkshire'.

Oh! Well, then, why..? 

One email, understood to be from Bradford Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe, said: 'I'm not keen on us participating in anything that perpetuates the memory of the man, so the answer's no from me I'm afraid.'

Ah. But wouldn't it bring a boost to the area? 

The production company responded by trying to assure the council the series would not 'exploit or sensationalise the nature of his crimes'. It also offered to work with charities and support groups in the area...

However, a final email signed 'Susan' - sent in response to the matter being chased by New Pictures - says: 'I said no quite clearly I think?'

The breathtaking arrogance of that statement tells you all you need to know about how local council folk see themselves, doesn't it? 

A Bradford Council spokesperson, said: 'The story of this very dark and painful era has been told many times including within well researched documentaries which have given survivors and victims’ families a voice.

'We cannot ban filming in public spaces and have not tried to do so but we can choose whether to actively support this film or not.

'Out of respect for the many people affected, we have chosen not to support this film.'

So 'streets and parks' aren't public spaces? And the 'people affected' directly by these crimes have told you they want this? But your leader knows better...at least, she thinks she does.

That's Nothing Compared To The Damage It's Causing To Our Political Elite!

Angela Rayner warned today that the ongoing culture war over gender rights is causing 'damage' to young people - and it is unacceptable to ask a trans woman if they had a penis.

The Labour deputy leader struck a conciliatory tone as she said that women-only spaces should be protected at the same time as people changing gender should be supported.

Good luck with squaring that particular circle, Angie baby! Of course, it's all an attempt to row back after her boss showed his lack of fortitude:

It came after her boss, party leader Sir Keir Starmer, yesterday refused to say if a woman can have a penis during a debate about trans rights. 

Asked if a woman can have a penis, Starmer told LBC yesterday: 'I'm not... I don't think we can conduct this debate with... I don't think that discussing this issue in this way helps anyone in the long run.'

It's certainly not helping your party, is it? Not that the Tories have anything to boast about on this score, either... 

She was asked about Liverpool's Walton Centre NHS Trust, which has begun to ask all men whether they are pregnant before undergoing scans. The procedure can affect unborn children. 

Ms Rayner said there will be circumstances where it is reasonable to ask a trans man if they are pregnant, but added: 'It wouldn't be a reasonable question for me to say ''Have you got a penis or not?'' because that's not acceptable. She said the issue is not about 'men coming into women-only spaces', it is about 'supporting people in their lives'.

That's not all she says:

So shut up, peasants, and let Ange decide the hard issues of the day!
 

I Thought This Would Be Bigger News...

The former Labour MP Jim Devine has become the third parliamentarian to be jailed over the expenses scandal after being sentenced to 16 months' imprisonment.

The 56-year-old former trade union convenor made false claims totalling £8,385, "knowing full well just how wrong it was and the effect that false claims were having on the public's belief and confidence in parliament", Mr Justice Saunders, passing sentence at the Old Bailey, said.

I guess he's lucky there's a war on, eh?

Devine's offences were "less serious" than those committed by the former Labour MP David Chaytor, who received 18 months in January, and were committed over a shorter period of time, Sanders said.

His defence tried his best:

The offences were "entirely out of character" as he was a "man of integrity and honesty", though Millar accepted that might sound like a paradox.

Well, no, 'paradox' wasn't the first word that came to mind, actually...

Right Headline, Wrong Answer...

 

Faced with a deluge of evidence that months of lockdown, patchy school attendance and a digital divide had widened attainment gaps between better and worse-off pupils, the 163 English grammars put their heads down, ploughed on, and managed to run just about the only examinations that took place last year.

Well, hurrah! Something more to celebrate, surely? 

Well, no. Not according to Fiona. This is the 'Guardian', after all...

Does anyone in government care? It seems not, and this is hardly a topic likely to fire up the prime minister, whose nauseating observation about IQ testing was to suggest that humans were innately of unequal ability, and like cornflakes in a cereal box. “The harder you shake the pack, the easier it will be for some cornflakes to get to the top,” he explained in the 2013 Margaret Thatcher lecture, which is certainly an interesting take on the concept of “levelling up”.

Does Fiona believe we are all born equally able, then? 

The 163 grammar schools may seem like small beer at the time of a national emergency, but for every selective school there is a larger local group of secondary moderns, a school type no one is campaigning to bring back.

They might not be, but is the answer really the wrong one? Only if you think that the key to the 'equality' you supposedly seek is to ensure no-one has the provable chance to better themselves... 

You Wouldn't Know 'Justice' If It Slapped You Around The Face With A Wet Haddock!

Social media users should not be allowed to post from anonymous accounts, the Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales has said.

What?! Who on earth would say such a stu... 

Dame Vera Baird QC...

Oh. Right.  

...said tech giants such as Twitter and Facebook should not allow people to sign up without providing accurate identifiable information. It comes amid concern the practice is allowing people to abuse others online with little prospect of being identified and prosecuted.

I can post a poison pen letter that's untraceable. I can use a 'burner' phone to make threatening calls. When do you start demanding these avenues be closed down too?

And why, on any subject, should someone too dim and arrogant to scoop her dog's crap be able to shoot her mouth off and be listened to?

Dame Vera said: “I think that getting rid of anonymity is fundamental to being able to enforce the law quite obviously.”

Well, there goes all that whistleblower legislation, eh? 

“People sit at home with a funny name and say the most horrible thing, having quite a lot of pleasure because they can’t be found - that must be the point of it, mustn’t it, to do it without any comeback.”

Like politicians can, in the House? 

“It’s very unpleasant indeed and it’s imperative they be brought to justice.”

Like speeders should?